MANAMA: The Bahraini opposition on Saturday rejected an offer of dialogue from the authorities saying it would join talks only after the cabinet quits and troops behind a bloody crackdown leave the streets.
The Islamic National Accord Association, which is boycotting parliament in protest at the army's iron-fisted response to the wave of protests sweeping the small but strategic Gulf kingdom, said 95 people were wounded on Friday, of whom three were "clinically dead."
"To consider dialogue, the government must resign and the army should withdraw from the streets" of Manama, said the group's parliamentary leader, Abdel Jalil Khalil Ibrahim.
"What we're seeing now is not the language of dialogue but the language of force," said the MP.
He was responding to an offer of talks from the Sunni royal family once calm has returned to the Shia majority offshore banking centre.
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa promised a sweeping national dialogue once calm is restored, and soon afterwards King Hamad formally announced that he had assigned his heir to start those discussions.
On Saturday, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said it was vital that dialogue "should begin without delay," adding she was "deeply concerned" by violence against protesters.
"I urge the Bahraini authorities to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression and the right to assemble freely," Ashton said.
"The dialogue announced by Bahraini Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa to meet the demands and aspirations of the people should begin without delay," she said.
Both Britain, the former colonial power in Bahrain, and the United States, which headquarters its Fifth Fleet in the archipelago state, have warned their nationals to avoid non-essential travel.
The army's intervention came after a deadly police action prompted protesters, inspired by the February 11 overthrow of veteran Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, to occupy Pearl Square in the heart of Manama.
Six people have so far died, according to the opposition and families, five according to the government.
Iran has "condemned the violent confrontation" and urged the Bahraini government to show restraint.
In a television interview, Prince Salman said "our dialogue must take place in a climate of total calm," adding that "no issue can be excluded from that dialogue."
"What is happening today in Bahrain is not acceptable," he said. "We have reached a dangerous stage that necessitates that each of us acknowledges the responsibilities ... Bahrain today is divided."
In a statement read on state television, King Hamad charged Prince Salman with starting a "dialogue with all sides and groups in the kingdom with no exceptions."
"Mr Ecclestone, are our lives a price for your Formula One?" it asked, in English.
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